The portable beveling tool of the present invention was developed for use by excavators and contractors when installing plastic sewer and drainage pipe. An example of such pipe is SDR 35 PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) Sewer and Drainage Pipe.
Lengths of SDR 35 PVC Sewer and Drainage Pipe are manufactured with a bell end and a spigot end, with the spigot end including a bevel. The bell end of the pipe has a neoprene/rubber seal inside the periphery of the bell. When the pipe is installed in the field, the beveled spigot end is inserted into the bell end of the preceding pipe. The bevel allows for proper assembly of the pipe lengths and eliminates tearing or disturbing the neoprene/rubber seal.
The integrity of the seal must be maintained as each length of pipe is assembled. This seal is critical as the integrity of each pipe joint is tested after assembly with air pressure.
When a standard length of pipe is cut to a specific length, the cut end of the pipe no longer has the factory-beveled end. The pipe must have the correct bevel cut each time a standard length pipe is cut to size to maintain the integrity of the seal.
Portable tools have been developed to bevel the end of a pipe with a power tool carrying a cutter. Uribe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,358 and Nybo, US Published Patent Application No. 2004/0206218 each disclose a pipe beveling tool that attaches to a power tool such as a drill, router, or the like. The beveling tool includes a datum plate that attaches to the power tool. The plate has a through-hole or aperture that enables a cutter carried by the power tool to extend through the beveling tool and cut the bevel.
The plate is placed against the end of the pipe, and at least three rollers mounted on the plate locate the beveling tool on the end of the pipe. The rollers abut the inner or outer pipe walls, allowing the pipe to rotate and enabling the cutter to cut a bevel around the entire circumference of the pipe.
Although the above beveling tools are useful, there is room for improvement in both the initial cost of the beveling tool and operator convenience when using the beveling tool.
Simplifying construction would reduce the number of components, thereby reducing cost.
A more ergonomic design of the beveling tool would increase operator convenience and improve the quality of the bevels made by the beveling tool.
When beveling a pipe in place that cannot rotate, the beveling tool itself must instead revolve around the pipe. The handle of the power tool is used to move the beveling tool around the pipe. The beveling tool and its attached power tool must each make one complete rotation with a complete revolution around the pipe, which can cause the operator to change his or her grip on the handle as the bevel is being cut.
Changing grip while the bevel is being cut can affect the quality and accuracy of the resulting bevel. If the operator could maintain the same grip on the power tool as the beveling tool moves around the periphery of the pipe, operator convenience as well as bevel quality and accuracy increases.
Thus there is a need for a beveling tool having a simpler construction and a more ergonomic design.